Meet the
Recovering Professionals Treatment Team

Dr. Lynn is a graduate of Wayne State Medical University in Detroit,
Michigan and completed his residency at Emory University in Atlanta. He has
been in private practice and an attending psychiatrist at Ridgeview
Institute for 17 years. Dr. Lynn is Board Certified in Psychiatry and
Addiction Psychiatry. He is also certified by the American Society of
Addiction Medicine (ASAM). Dr. Lynn was President of Ridgeview’s Medical
Staff from 1995-1996 and served as Medical Director of Anchor Hospital from
1999-2001. His office is located on the Ridgeview campus, (770) 333-1755.

Dr. Vargo has
been associated with Ridgeview Institute since its beginning
in 1976. He has provided leadership as Director of Quality
Assurance since 1983, and as Medical
Director since
1993. He treats psychiatric patients at all levels of care,
in addition to maintaining a busy private practice. Dr. Vargo has joined the Recovering Professionals
Services
treatment team, spearheading the new psychiatric component
of this program. Dr. Vargo received his M.D. from Emory
University Medical School, where he also completed his
psychiatry residency. He is Board Certified in
Psychiatry and Neurology, as well as
Addiction Psychiatry.

KATHERINE
BREWER, BS
Program Manager, Day Hospital and Young Adult Program

Katherine has
been with Ridgeview Institute for over 22 years. Initially,
she coordinated the activities therapy for several programs
across campus. She began working with Adult Addiction
Services and the Adult Psychiatric Services in
1994. Katherine received her Bachelor of Science in
Recreational Therapy and Psychology.

CHIP ABERNATHY,
MA, LPCRecovering Professionals
Services Coordinator

Chip is
Program Coordinator for the Recovering Professionals
Services. He has worked in the area of addiction
treatment for over 20 years. During that time he has
held both clinical and management positions and has been
the co-owner and operator of a treatment center. He
holds a Masters in Psychology, is a Licensed
Professional Counselor, a Certified Addiction Counselor
and a Certified Clinical Supervisor through the Georgia
Addiction Counselors Association, and is a Certified
Relapse Prevention Specialist through Gorski-CENAPS.
He has provided training and consultation to government,
industry, and the treatment field, and is the creator of
the Daily Inventories/Weekly Summary, a widely-used self
care instrument to help people develop and maintain a
program of recovery.

CHRIS LaSALLE, LPC

Clinical Coordinator, Adult
Psychiatric, Adult Addiction Services for
the Outpatient Day Program

Chris supervises case managers in the
treatment of psychiatric and addiction illness. He has
worked in several capacities within inpatient and
outpatient treatment since 1991. Chris is a Licensed
Professional Counselor with expertise working with the
broad spectrum of psychiatric and addiction diagnoses
including dual diagnosis and the impaired professional
population.

Jayne
coordinates monitoring for all the various professional
licensing boards and facilitates the transition of patients
from all phases of treatment to aftercare. She oversees
aftercare for over 150 participants, chairs the Steering
Committee and governs the monitoring function of the
program. Jayne leads an Recovering Professionals Aftercare
therapy group, as well as the Lawyers Aftercare support
group. Jayne has worked at Ridgeview in a variety of
capacities since the late 1980’s, most recently as a Lead
Clinician in the Recovering Professionals
Services. She is a
Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has a Doctorate in
Psychology with a specialty in Addictions and Family
Systems.

Tom
joined the Recovering Professionals Psychiatric Program in
August, 2007. He has worked at Ridgeview for 25 years.
During his tenure at Ridgeview, Tom has served as a clinical
assistant on the Adult Inpatient Unit, staff coordinator for
the Adolescent Unit working with conduct disorders, and most
recently as a case manager on the Adult Inpatient Unit. He
graduated from Georgia State University with a Masters in
Professional Counseling, has obtained national certification
as a counselor, and is currently completing requirements to
become a Licensed Professional Counselor. In addition to
Tom’s broad clinical experience with both psychiatric and
addictive illnesses, he has worked with special populations
such as older adults, individuals with eating disorders and
those with dissociative disorders. Tom is also contracted
with Georgia State University as a consultant for the Good
Neighbor Program – a joint effort with GSU and the Atlanta
Housing Authority – providing crisis intervention, brief
counseling, and other resources as needed.

Dru handles
initial inquires about the program, as well as facilitating
the intake process, in conjunction with the Access Center.
Additionally, she coordinates our 96 Hour Evaluations.
She joined the
Ridgeview Institute Recovering Professionals staff in November
2004. She has over 10 years of healthcare experience in
management, patient advocacy and employee recognition. Dru
provides all the administrative support for the Recovering Professionals
Services, which includes facilitating random
urine drug screens and maintaining records for all aftercare
patients. As such, she is a much needed liaison between the
treatment team and the patients. Dru has a B.S. in Business
Administration.

Submit information, articles, ideas,
and suggestions for this newsletter/resource page to Chad Husted,
Director of Business Development at Ridgeview Institute – (770) 434-4568, ext
3011 or e-mail:
tlopes@ridgeviewinstitute.com